Israeli ambassadors in several European capitals have been summoned today
to receive angry responses to Jerusalem’s recent decision: the construction
of 3,000 new housing units in the West Bank settlements, and the promotion
of the zoning plan for E1 area, north east of Jerusalem. E1 is the only
remaining corridor between the large Palestinian cities in the West
Bank<http://972mag.com/resource-what-is-the-e1-area-and-why-is-it-so-important/61298/>.
It is the final brick in the great project Likud and Kadima prime ministers
carried out in the last two decades, designed to encircle the Palestinian
part of Jerusalem with Israeli settlements and neighborhoods in a way that
would permanently prevent and division of the city, or any other
territorial compromise, for that matter.

A spokesperson for the German embassy expressed “great concern” over the
decision and called the Israeli government “to reconsider it.” The head of
the French foreign office told the Israeli ambassador that the settlements
are “illegal by international law.” Similar messages were expressed by the
Netherlands and the British governments.
<http://972mag.com/east-jerusalem-map/38314/ir-amim-map-greater-jerusalem-3/>

Greater Jerusalem Map, Updated 2011. The E1 area will complete the Jewish
“ring” around Palestinian East Jerusalem, and will disconnect the north of
the West Bank from its south (source: Ir Amim)

The language of the European responses does seem unprecedented. Haaretz
reported this morning that Britain and France were considering calling back
their envoys to Tel Aviv (a report later confirmed by the British network
Sky<http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000803041&fid=1725>).
Such move seems highly unlikely, but the very notion marks a new low point
in the relations between the Israeli government and its European allies.
After four years in power, Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have
managed to isolate Israel in a way never seen before.

Yet in the internal Israeli game, all of this won’t matter that much. The
Israeli public has grown used to hearing report of European and American
condemnations of construction projects. The same headlines have been
declaring for four decades that “the American administration is
dismayed<http://www.promisedlandblog.com/?p=1810>”
or that “the European Union
condemns…<http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/14/us-eu-israel-palestinians-idUSBRE84D0SH20120514>”
Not only does it seem that Netanyahu won’t lose support with the public,
Likud ministers were going around explaining to the public why only “light
measures” against the Palestinian Authority were taken.

In the early Israeli evening, a government spokesperson told
Haaretz<http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-aides-israel-will-not-cancel-settlement-expansion-plans.premium-1.482149>
that
the decision Israel has made – among them the confiscation of almost half a
billion shekels ($120 million) of tax money that Israel collects for the PA
– will not be reconsidered. The government also announced that further
steps will be considered if the PA takes any other unilateral actions.
Jerusalem, it seems, simply sees Palestinians – their foreign policy
included – as its prisoners, subjects to sticks and carrots according to
the degree to which they stay in line with the Likud’s policy objectives.

It is not surprising though that the diplomatic drama of the last couple of
weeks is met with indifference in both the Israeli and the Palestinian
public. I highly recommend reading Haggai Matar’s account of the sad
“independent night” in
Ramallah<http://972mag.com/a-sad-day-of-victory-in-ramallah/61169/>.
Clearly, any sense of Palestinian national pride that the UN vote could
have brought is overshadowed by the understanding that at this point in
time, there is nothing farther away than the establishment of a contiguous,
independent Palestinian state.

The European policy, even at its most engaged moments, is using the
conceptual framework of the 80′s and 90′s to deal with a problem that has
gone through considerable changes. More failures are all but inevitable. I
seriously doubt whether the European Union is able to enforce its own ban
on products from the settlements, but even if it does, it would be like
trying to turn a car around by arguing with one of its wheels. The economy
of the occupation – for Palestinians and settlers alike – is part of the
Israeli economy by now, just as the military justice system in the West
Bank is part of the Israeli court system. The argument over a single house
here or a neighborhood there has clearly run its course.

The Palestinian problem is a human and civil rights problem disguised as a
diplomatic issue. An adequate approach to the occupation would put forward
the problem at hand and not the desired solution, which at the moment seems
more like a fantasy. The problem is the military control over the lives of
millions which has lasted for over half a century, and the absence of
political and human rights that comes along with said rule. A Palestinian
state is one possible solution to this situation, but it shouldn’t be a
policy objective on its own. Treating it like one gives the Israeli
leadership an incentive to use the Palestinians as prisoners and their land
as a bargaining chip. Israel should face demands that have to do with
Palestinian rights – including a just solution to the refugee problem –
accompanied by adequate policy measures. Among other things, the result
will be a more honest public debate in Israel, and a policy which is more
accountable for its long term affects.